15 August,2017 07:30 PM IST | Mumbai | Anurag Kamble
A 78-year-old woman was found brutally murdered in the Byculla apartment where she lived alone. The elderly woman's throat had been slit, and her cash, gold earrings and cell phone had been stolen
Jehra Mansoor Hakim, 78, lived alone in Byculla, while her daughters live abroad
A 78-year-old woman was found brutally murdered in the Byculla apartment where she lived alone. The elderly woman's throat had been slit, and her cash, gold earrings and cell phone had been stolen. But, karma played its part, and it was the stolen phone that helped the cops catch the killer within six hours, after he used it to make a one-minute call.
Jehra Mansoor Hakim, 78, was living alone at Abba Gani Compound in Byculla East, while her daughters live abroad. One of her daughters, Arvaa was visiting from Saudi Arabia but had gone to Hyderabad on the day of the murder. Arvaa returned home with her son around 8.15 am yesterday. While she was paying the taxi fare, her son rushed upstairs and found his grandmother in a pool of blood.
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Phone was active
Arvaa and the neighbours took the senior citizen to Masina Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. The Byculla police registered a case under Section 302 (murder) and 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the IPC.
The Crime Branch Unit 2, which was also conducting a parallel investigation, learnt that a cell phone had gone missing from the house. They traced the phone and found that it was still active, and a couple of calls had been as well. One of the calls was traced to Nagpada.
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Promise to jail friend
"A team was immediately sent to Nagpada and to the local railway station," said a Crime Branch officer. "Another team was tracing the people called by the murderer. At the railway station, the team called on the deceased woman's phone number and saw a man pick up the call. The stolen phone had a flap and was unique; we identified the phone and caught the culprit," the officer added.
The accused was identified as Abdulla Usman Sayyed, 24, who had been released from Arthur Road Jail on bail just 15 days ago. He had been jailed for theft. Before he was released, Sayyed had promised to deliver a message to a fellow inmate's wife. Since he had no cell phone, he planned to call the woman from a phone booth.
Meanwhile, he had already started scouting for places to rob in Nagpada and Byculla. "He was on the lookout on Monday morning and saw Jehra sitting outside her house at 5 am. When he saw there was no movement in her house, he decided to break in," said an officer.
"He tried to enter, but Jehra retaliated, Abdulla hit with her, but she fought back, after which he knifed her," the cop added. While leaving her home, he took her valuables and cell phone. Then he remembered his promise and called his friend's wife. The same call landed him into the police's net.
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